Alderson's letter describes the organization's recent tactics towards getting more bang with the limited bucks available for the team's payroll. Alderson cites the recent acquisitions of free agent pitchers Chris Capuano and Taylor Buchholz as fitting in with the philosophy of "filling out our roster with reasonably priced players who have significant upside potential." He then goes on to cite a recent example of this philosophy in action:

Every
year players come out of nowhere to become success stories. Look no
further than R.A. Dickey. He signed a minor-league deal last January,
became a fixture in the starting rotation in May, and finished the
season with 11 victories and a 2.84 ERA. I believe some of our
offseason acquisitions can be this year's version of R.A.

With a bit of luck and a strong return from each pitcher's Tommy John surgery woes, Capuano or Buchholz could surprise us with the level of success obtained by Dickey in 2010. Should that happen, Mets fans everywhere will exhalt Alderson's name while buying out the Team Store of the respective pitcher's jerseys and t-shirts.

But are we forgetting about Dickey's encore?

Dickey won over the hearts and minds of Metsopotamians with a breakthrough performance last season. He posted an inexplicably low 2.84 ERA over 174 1/3 innings pitched. That came about largely from career low in FIP (3.65, career average of 4.75), expected FIP (3.88, career 4.52),

walks per 9 innings (2.17, career 3.19) and home runs per 9 innings (0.67, career 1.20) ratios as well as a career high ground ball percentage of 55.1% (career 46.7%). Some of it comes from Dickey reining in the unpredictable knuckleball. Some of it comes from the cozy confines of Citi Field.

All of it still fails to explain why Dickey emerged as good if not better than Johan Santana as the team's best starting pitcher. For starters, Dickey posted an FIP and xFIP that came in almost a run higher than his ERA, indicating a bit of luck factored into his success. Also, knuckleballers tend to lack the ability to keep their walks down. Hoyt Wilhelm (3.11), Tim Wakefield (3.39), Phil Niekro (3.01), and Charlie Hough (3.94) all represent the knuckleball fraternity by posting career BB/9 ratios over 3. For all the mystique about the novelty pitch, its effectiveness comes more from making it dance in mid-air than blowing it through the strike zone and past batters. And 2010 represents Dickey's first season to make more than 15 starts.

This isn't meant as a balloon-bursting post about R.A. Dickey. I still expect him to pitch effectively in 2011 and remain in the rotation for as long as the Mets need pitching. Knuckleballers develop at their own pace and on their own trajectory. They are the exception when asking if a 36-year old journeyman could be reaching his peak performance years. And that exception makes it so easy to root for him, just as it did when a thirtysomething Rick Reed rose up from replacement player to Mets rotation in the late '90s.

Instead, it's just a reminder to keep expectations within reason. Omar Minaya (a.k.a. the GM who brought us Dickey) demonstrated great success in uncovering diamonds in the rough. He dusted off John Valentin in 2006, El Duque for 2006-2007, John Maine for 2007, Fernando Tatis in 2008, and even the good Oliver Perez in 2007 and 2008. Then he rolled the dice on them one too many times, with each reverting back to pumpkins before the team could uncover a replacement.

The Mets brought in Sandy Alderson to not make the same mistakes Omar Minaya did with impunity for so long. That means riding talent when it's hot, selling talent at its zenith, and cutting losses when things become irreparable. Dickey's Cinderella story has us all hoping we're still riding up to his zenith.

But every Cinderella story strikes midnight before we're ready. I'm hoping that's not the case with last year's "success story."------

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Congratulations go out to Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar on their election to the Hall of Fame this week. It's a shame to not see Jeff Bagwell or Barry Larkin join them.

Amazin' Avenue's James Kannengeiser describes his love/hate relationship with John Franco. I don't think Kannengeiser wore rose-colored glasses for that post, either. Franco was funny because he was awfully effective most of the time and just awful enough to make you forget it. I hate to make a comparison to the "true Yankee" moniker, but Franco's persona and performance made him a "true Met" for better or worse. He was never going to Cooperstown until the Hall finally figures out how to evaluate relievers. But his presence on the ballot should not warrant derision, either.